CAYMAN ISLANDS ASK FOR ADVICE

Hoping to diversify their economy, the Cayman Islands have turned to Daytona Beach for help in revamping the island community's chamber of commerce.

S. Thomas Bodden, first vice president of the Cayman Islands business group, said the British dependency wants the Daytona Beach chamber of commerce to show Cayman businesses how to establish a more aggressive organization and find a director.

With a full-time director, the Cayman Islands, a world banking center and a popular Caribbean tourist destination, could broaden their economic base, Bodden said.

The Cayman Islands, south of Cuba and northeast of Jamaica, are 455 miles from Miami. With a population of about 19,000 people, the islands are a tax haven that has attracted nearly 18,000 corporations, including 460 banks that, according to National Geographic magazine, process $350 million daily.

Alex Bray, executive director of the Daytona Beach chamber, officially known as The Chamber, Daytona Beach-Halifax Area, said he and president Fred Leonhardt are going to the islands Sept. 27 and 28 to explain the role of an active chamber.